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We are on the train with Haein Choi, painter born in Seoul, South Korea, and with our gaze glued to the window, we enjoy the landscape rushing past our eyes. A stretch of green meadows, and far away, small identical trees trace the boundary between earth and sky.
As we lift our eyes from that bright green, high up in the sky we notice two airplanes flying off to unknown places. The clatter of the train along the tracks merges with the steady hum of two identical planes – indeed, Twins is the title of the painting – flying through a blue clear sky painted with long, thoughtful brushstrokes.
But the journey continues, and we catch a fleeting Silhouettes of a Riding Field, outlined by black lines on a green background, defining that space in poetic abstraction; at dusk, the silhouette of trees stands out against a still-bright sky.
And then comes the night, and that fairytale house with the pointed roof lit by a star. What follows is a dawn with a sky of splendid indigo hues blending shades of blue and violet.
These are paintings in which Haein Choi masterfully handles form and color, achieving in her work the subtle art of subtraction: removing the superfluous to achieve the maximum.
All of Haein’s works are oil paintings, in which no brushstrokes are visible; the pigments flow slowly, flooding the canvas with thick, warm tones, defining the images that capture our attention.
There appears a crumbling building, the painting House with broken windows, painted in a dark violet that at times fades into brown; cutouts of houses with identical windows and colorful rooftops, The colors of a sunny day.
But then Haein leaves; we glimpse her boarding a bus, beyond the green wire fence, in the painting Over the green wire fence.
A new journey begins for her.
Haein Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1991. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Hongik University in Korea and continued her studies at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf until 2023, under the guidance of Professor Andreas Schulze.
Drawing inspiration from her solitary childhood and everyday life, Haein Choi creates landscapes and still lifes using oil painting. She was nominated for the NRW Bank Art Prize and participated in the “die Grosse” exhibition at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. She was also featured in the independent art magazine Salat Magazine.
All images courtesy of the artist © Haein Choi
